How many Tug Scuba Divers are out there?

[Judy]

Welcome to TUG Honeybunney. Sorry, I can't help you with Micronesia. I haven't been there yet. Try www.scubaboard.com and www.diveglobal.com
May I suggest that you get a sitter or hire a traveling nanny and go diving with your husband (if not to Micronesia, then somewhere more convenient and less expensive). If you don't, you'll likely find that when your kids are old enough to dive or leave home, you'll have to retrain. You and your husband probably should take a refresher course now. You should try to dive at least once a year. Some dive operators won't take you otherwise.

We might want to try to start logging where we have been diving, and whether we would recommend a certain dive operate or timeshare/resort.

Sandy, Do you mean post them here? How far back do you want to go? How much information? I'd be happy to post mine. Will you post an example?

 

[loosefeet]

I would love to have information on diving. I am a novice, but would like to continue to dive...and would like information about sites and TS accessible for divers.

 

[daventrina]

No SCUBA area?

Guess that we are not going to get a SCUBA thread on TUG...

There is one on Crusie Critic:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=40

 

[Sandy VDH]

Sandy, Do you mean post them here? How far back do you want to go? How much information? I'd be happy to post mine. Will you post an example?

Not sure where else to post.......

Quick Summary of Timeshare locations and diving recommendation.

• Morritt's Grand Cayman, Dive with Ocean Frontiers, they are great.
• Alexandra Resort, Turks & Caicos (T&C), (we dove with the Beaches property so I can't recommend anyone)
• Westin St John, USVI, Cruz Bay Watersports
• Galleon, Key West, FL, Can't remember who we went diving with but it was just adjacent to the Galleon. Diving is good, but a fair distance from shore.
• Coral Princess, Cozumel MX, - Dive with Alison is a friend of mine, she does private and small groups, she was my Advanced Instructor 10 years ago.
• Costa Linda, Aruba, diving was OK at best, some wrecks but not very many fish.
• Trade Winds Cruise Club (TWCC) - have sail Bristish Virgin Islands (BVI) twice, St Vincent & the Genadines (SVG) twice, T&C, and a Delivery cruise from Antigua to Bequia (SVG), alwasy dive directly with TWCC, as it is free of charge if you own there, which we do. We are sailing Belize in April 07.
• Bay Club Waikoloa & Kona Hawaiian Village, 4 times, dove with Kona Honu Divers.

Would NOT recommend the following....

• Antigua Village Beach Club, Antigua, when I was there the soft corals were still recovering from a Hurricane, visibility was poor. I am going again in Sept, I will provide an update and a second option.
• Canary Islands, Spain, water too cold and the not much to see.

 

[Judy]

Coral Princess Club, Cozumel, Mexico, May 2006. Pepe SCUBA is onsite. His boat picks up at the resort dock. Because of Wilma, the reef was partly covered with sand, corals were broken and sponges were gone, but there were lots of fish and critters.

Mayan Palace, Mayan Riviera, Mexico, May 2006. The dive shop on the resort’s beach was convenient and good. The reef diving right off the resort’s beach was convenient but uninteresting. The cenote dive was a don’t miss.

Worldmark Cairns, Australia. October, 2005. Great Barrier Reef Diving was outstanding! I don’t recommend staying at this resort for diving. It’s located 30 minutes from Cairns and Cairns is a long boat ride from the reef.

Lions Dive aka Buddy Dive, Bonaire: September, 2005: Bonaire is a divers’ paradise. It’s best known for shore diving. Buddy’s has its own dock, boats, and dive operation right at the resort. The resort has its own reef a two minute swim from the dock! How to dive in Bonaire: get out of bed, put on your gear, jump in the water!

Divi Tiara, Cayman Brac, July 2005. Dive Tiara, right at the resort, is the best dive operation I’ve experienced. Don’t miss a trip to Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall.

Sandy Point Beach Resort, Tobago, May 2003. On-site dive operation was only a shop. We had to ride in a van to the boat. Interesting diving, especially Speyside where we saw the world’s largest brain coral.

Royal Palm Beach Club, Ambergris Caye, Belize, May 2002. The on-site dive operation was only a sales office that was usually closed. We went into town to book our dives with Aqua Dives Shop. Good op and good dives.

Plantation Village Beach Resort, Grand Cayman, May 2001. No on-site dive op. Red Sail Sports is only a short walk. Diving off Seven Mile Beach: mediocre visibility, reef was dived out. Tortuga Divers at Morritt’s: beautiful dives on the northeast shore.

Casa del Mar Beach Resort, Aruba, November 2000. Mermaid Divers was within walking distance of the resort. Had to take a van to the boat. Not very good diving. Not much to see, poor visability.

Club International de Cancun, August 2000. The on-site dive op was only a sales office. Poor visibility. Little to see. Much better diving in Cozumel

 

[daventrina]

Some of our favorites on Maui

Some of our favorite dive/snorkeling sites on Maui (some of which can be better than Molokini).

• 
  [*]Honolua Bay (marine reserve)
  [*]Mokule'ia Beach (marine reserve) (a.k.a. Slaughterhouse Beach)
  [*]Kapalua Bay
  [*]Kahekili Beach (Old Airport)
  [*]Black Rock (Sheraton)
  [*]Kewakapu Beach (south end)
  [*]Ulua Beach
  [*]Wailea Beach
  [*]Polo Beach
  [*]Five Caves/Makena Landing
  [*]Maluaka (quiltergal's suggestion - and a good one)
  [*]Ahihi Cove (marine reserve)
  [*]:ignore: Nothing personal, but as for mile 14, we'd have to go with the Maui Revealed authors that say "14 mile marker on hwy 30 is ridiculously overrated" It does keep the better sites less crowded though

A good descriptions of the sites are here:
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/Maui/index.htm
And a good beach info site:
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/beaches/default.htm

 

[daventrina]

Some of our favorites on Hawaii

These were our favoirites on the Big Island....

• Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park (Place Of Refuge) - Two Step
• Manta Dive/Snorkel night dive at Manta Heaven with Kona Honu Divers
• Mile 4

And there are others
A good descriptions of the sites are here:
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/TBI/index.htm

 

[Sandy VDH]

These were our favoirites on the Big Island....

• Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park (Place Of Refuge) - Two Step
• Manta Dive/Snorkel night dive at Manta Heaven with Kona Honu Divers
• Mile 4

And there are others
A good descriptions of the sites are here:
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/TBI/index.htm

Have to concurr with you on the first two for sure. Place of refuge is our favorite shore dive in HI.

Sandy

 

[dag2]

Great idea!

I was wondering if there is enough Tuggers who are also Divers where it might make sense to have a Diving Vacation section on Tug. I wonder because I have been to many TS resorts, and as a diver I usually see other divers on the boat who are staying at other TS properties. I was just thinking it might be nice to be able to discuss and pass on info relevent to the best resorts and dive shops when on vacation. I would imagine some resorts are more diver friendly than others, and it would seem Tuggers would know best.

Any divers out there?

You can add two more to the list!

 

[Spence]

Spence and SpenceII dive

upcoming trips
Thanksgiving06 Aruba
Xmas06 St Thomas
Thanksgiving07 St Croix
New Years 07-08 Martinique
Thanksgiving08 Bonaire (tentative)

past diving TS trips
Grand Cayman (twice)
St Croix

past TS trips just ended up snorkling
St Thomas
Kauai
Maui
Big Island
Oahu
St Maarten

Going to St Thomas Saturday and second son is signed up for a Certification Course, then the following week just he and I are going to Nassau.

 

[MuranoJo]

Add one more, my hubby (and his brother). I snorkle, but I'm the one responsible for finding the locations. Still trying for Bonaire and Belize t/s exchanges--have been to several others. Now that hubby has taken early retirement, we may have more flexibility.

 

[Cat]

There have been many postings indicating interest in a scuba board here on TUG. The admins don't necessarily read this board for suggestions. If someone wants to post it on the TUG BBS board (first one on the list) then this thread can be linked, thereby using it as a pointer to admins.